Eventbrite, and certain approved third parties, use functional, analytical and tracking cookies (or similar technologies) to understand your event preferences and provide you with a customised experience. By closing this banner or by continuing to use Eventbrite, you agree. For more information please review our cookie policy.

Event Information

Date and Time

Location

Description

Not just space junk

Beneath the mysteries of flight and space lie some seriously smart scientists, who design and build the materials we use in aircraft – including the intergalactic variety. Hear from USC’s leading engineering researchers about how advances in materials technology could take us to Mars, or even just help us live better lives on Earth.

Before humans can colonise Mars, we need to figure out how to enter the Red Planet’s atmosphere (and then re-enter Earth’s atmosphere) without overheating. Spacecraft travelling at the high speeds required for these missions will experience significant heating, and scientists must account for this when designing heat shields. In this talk, USC Lecturer in Engineering (Thermofluids) Dr Carolyn Jacobs will describe how an understanding of the structure of titanium alloys down to an atomic scale is helping to design new classes of alloys specifically tailored to their applications. In turn, this is helping to create better performing aerospace and biomedical components, with unconstrained and customised designs and with less waste.

Dr Jacobs obtained her PhD as part of a cotutelle program from both the University of Queensland and Ecole Centrale Paris in 2011. Her work focussed on atmospheric entry applications, and this thesis investigated the radiative heat transfer encountered on a misson to Saturn's moon, Titan.

Dr Jacobs' current research includes experimental and computational work on atmospheric entry, as well as diagnostics used in non-thermal plasma applications such as medical sterilisation and the reduction of pollution.

Titanium: From aerospace to artificial implants

Titanium makes up almost half the structural weight of a modern commercial airliner. However, during production as much as 90 percent of that titanium ends up on the shop floor, as non-recyclable machining waste. At the same time, titanium alloys are highly sought after for use in biomedical applications – but alloys originally developed for aerospace applications contain potentially toxic ingredients and can’t be used in the human body. In this talk, USC Senior Lecturer in Engineering Sciences Dr Damon Kent will discuss experiments conducted in plasma torch facilities of France’s CentraleSupelec and right here in Queensland to gather information about vehicle heating, and how these experiments can be used to evaluate and develop future spacecraft materials.

Presented by Dr Damon Kent, Senior Lecturer in Engineering Sciences

Dr Damon Kent is a Senior Lecturer in Engineering Sciences at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He is responsible for the development of teaching and research in the Mechanical Engineering program.

Damon has worked as a mechanical engineer in commercial manufacturing environments and has extensive experience in light metals research, primarily focused on materials development and processing. He has a wide range of research interests including the application of design, new materials solutions and evolving direct manufacturing technologies to the aerospace and biomedical fields. As well as lecturing at USC, he is currently a program leader on the ARC Hub for Advanced Manufacturing of Medical Devices, an industry focussed research collaboration involving USC, UQ, USyd and RMIT.